A Little Bite of the Fame Machine
by moogsthewriter
Summary: Camille finds out what the casting agent really told James and confronts him about it back at apartment 2J. Tag to "Big Time Break."


_**A/N**: My sister has officially hooked me on another show. Dang her. XP I'm a bit behind, so I'm just watching all the reruns on Nickelodeon now. I watched "Big Time Break" yesterday and couldn't help but write this little tag. It takes place after the episode's end (and after everyone's shared their stories). _

_Incidentally, I've got no beta for BTR fics, and I've got a few more in mind, so if you'd be willing to help me out, let me know. :D And as I mentioned before, this is new to me, so if anyone's out of character, let me know.  
_

_**Disclaimer**: _Big Time Rush_ belongs to Nickelodeon, and _Mario Kart_ belongs to Nintendo (I do believe). Title comes from the BTR song "Famous." _

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"I can never think of promoting my convenience at the expense of a friend's interest and inclination."_  
_– George Washington_

"Come on, come on, come – crap! Alright, who laid the frickin' banana peel? I'm gonna lose now, and I don't want to wear the wig – it'll mess up my hair!"

Carlos laughed, keeping his attention on the television screen as James glared at him. "That's for knocking me off the bridge earlier, dude." He bit his lip in concentration as he moved the joystick and pressed a bunch of buttons on his game controller, trying to manipulate his virtual car around Kendall and Logan's cars.

"No way you're getting past me, Carlos," Logan announced, tossing his head in annoyance as the long brown hair of the wig fell in front of his eyes. "And there's no way I'm wearing this stupid wig for another race!"

Kendall cheered as his car crossed the finish line first. "Ha! Well, I'm not wearing it, either," he announced with a wide grin, hopping out of his chair to do a little victory dance.

Logan shouted in triumph, tossing his controller on the couch and jumping up to join Kendall in his victory dance. He laughed as James slumped back on the couch, scowling when Carlos joined the other two in dancing in front of the couches. "We've got a new loser!" Logan announced, sweeping the wig he'd worn as part of his disguise for the math lecture off his head and placing it over James' hair. "Congrats, Jamie!"

James' scowl deepened, but the others could tell he wasn't truly upset – his eyes were glittering with amusement. "You're so going down the next race, Logie," he declared. "So are you," he added, glancing at Carlos and Kendall, who were still dancing around. "I'm thinking this would be a nice addition to Carlos' helmet." Carlos stuck his tongue out in response.

They all froze for a moment as someone knocked on the door to their apartment. "Pizza!" Carlos exclaimed, leaping over the couch and rushing for the door.

Logan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he glanced at the other two. "Mr. Garcia, Mrs. Knight, and Katie only left for the pizza place ten minutes ago – there's no way they could've gotten back this fast."

"Pizza, pizza, pizza!" Carlos gushed eagerly, smiling broadly as he pulled the door open. He blinked in surprise. "Camille?"

The young actress' lips quirked as she stared back at him, one eyebrow raised. "Hi, Carlos," she said. "Unfortunately, I'm not pizza. But do you mind if I come in?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Carlos replied, stepping aside to let her in.

"What're you doing here, Camille?" Kendall asked, discreetly elbowing Logan in the side when the shorter boy tried to hide behind him. Logan jumped, glaring at Kendall.

"I'm here to – what's with the wig, James?" Camille asked suddenly, tilting her head as she stared at James.

James glanced up before quickly sweeping off the wig and hiding it behind his back. "Oh, uh, I lost the race," he replied, blushing a little as he dropped the wig on the couch.

Camille raised an eyebrow as she nodded once. Then her eyes narrowed as she continued staring at the tall boy, and she folded her arms. "Did you turn down a role in _Witches of Rodeo Drive_?"

The others glanced at James, who blinked a few times before scoffing, "W-what? No! You know that – you were there when I got the call!"

"Oh yeah? Then what's this?" Camille shot back, holding out her cell phone. She pressed a button, and a woman's voice projected out through the speaker. James swallowed hard when he recognized the casting agent's voice.

"_Yes, Camille, I was hoping you'd be able to help me out. I'm looking for Mr. James Diamond, the boy who I assume came to the_ Witches of Rodeo Drive _audition with you, since you were both in costume. I think I had a bad connection with him when I called, as he seemed to think he'd been turned down for the role when in actuality, I was offering him the part. If you could pass that along and have him call me back at 555-4298, I won't press charges for carrying a concealed explosive onto the premises. Thanks!_"

Camille snapped her phone shut and crossed her arms again as a heavy silence fell over the apartment. James squirmed nervously as the other boys stared at him, eyes wide with surprise. "Umm…"

"It wasn't a bad connection, was it," Kendall declared. "You willingly turned down an acting job!"

"Why?" Logan asked before James could reply. "Why would you do that?"

"Yeah, weren't you just saying this morning that your face was made for the big screen?" Carlos added. "Why pass up that chance?"

James shrugged, licking his lips nervously. "I figured Gustavo would be really mad if he found out – it would've interfered with our rehearsal times."

Logan folded his arms, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the taller boy skeptically. "Yeah, right. He'll probably be angrier when he finds out you turned it down – it would've been another chance to get our names and your face out there."

"And we would've supported you, man," Kendall added. "We know how much you wanna be a star. We would've worked out a schedule around it."

"Especially if you introduced us to any of the hot girls you would've been working with," Carlos quipped.

James opened his mouth to reply, but paused when he caught sight of the look on Camille's face. "You… you're not going to cry again, are you?" he asked hesitantly.

Camille rolled her eyes. "Maybe out of frustration!" she replied. "James, _please _tell me you didn't turn down the role because of me. That's not how it works!"

"But it was _your _idea to audition for this in the first place!" James shot back. "It didn't seem right to take the role if you weren't going to be there."

"James," Camille said as she stepped forward, "it might've been my idea, but it's your dream to be famous, remember? And even though I was upset about not getting a part of my own, I wouldn't have been jealous of you getting yours."

James raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Camille opened her mouth, then hesitated. "Okay, maybe a _little_," she admitted with a small smile, making the others chuckle. "But I've come to accept that's how this business is – you don't nail every audition. Heck, most people barely nail _any _auditions. It can be a bummer, but a lot of time it works out for the best that way, anyway. I've already got another two auditions lined up this week. So," she finished folding her arms again. "Tell me you didn't turn down the role because of me."

"I didn't turn down the role because of you," James parroted. When everyone shot him skeptical looks, he amended, "Well, okay, it was _mostly _because of you. But it wasn't just because I'd thought you'd be jealous or mad at me." He sighed, sitting on the arm of the sofa and ducking his head so that his hair hid his eyes. "I didn't want to be one of _those _guys."

"'Those guys'?" Carlos repeated.

James traced a line on his palm with the forefinger of his other hand. "Yeah, you know – one of those guys who steps on his friends to get what he wants and then leaves them all behind in the dust."

His head snapped up when Logan lightly punched him in the arm. "We wouldn't have ever thought that about you, man," the shorter boy declared. "We know you better than that."

Kendall nodded in agreement as James smiled a little. "You can get caught up in the glitz and glamour of this place, but so have we, and when it comes down to it, we know who'd you choose."

Camille held out her hand in front of James' face, offering him her cell phone. "So you wanna call her back, let her know you'll take the part?"

James stared at the phone for a long moment before finally shaking his head. "No, I don't think so."

"What?" the others exclaimed in unison. "_Why_?"

James looked at Camille. "Acting is who you are, Camille – it's your passion, your drive, your _life_. And that's how I feel about music. Yeah, I'd like to be in movies someday because I think that would be fun, but Big Time Rush is what I care about right now. That's _my _passion, and that's what I want to stick with."

"You sure you don't want to do both?" Kendall asked. "We could make it work if you really wanted." Logan and Carlos both nodded their agreement.

James grinned. "Thanks, guys, but I'm sure. Besides, I think I should probably take some more acting lessons before I audition again. I don't think the agent was a fan of my acting as much as she was of my killer smile and washboard abs."

"They are pretty impressive," Camille teased with a grin, tugging up James' shirt and patting his stomach. "But would you call her back and let her know you got the message? I'd rather not have those charges pressed against me." Her grin turned sheepish. "That'll be the last time I take flash powder to an audition."

"Actually, I was hoping you'd help me out with that," James replied. "Could you pretend to be my agent and let her know?"

Camille straightened, thrusting a hand into the air as her face grew serious and she dramatically announced, "It shall be my finest performance!" She paused when she glanced at her cell phone. "But I'd better go and put on a suit coat – it'll help me get into character," she added, marching toward the apartment door. "I'll see you guys later!"

The boys all raised a hand in farewell as the actress slammed the door shut behind her. "Can you guys not tell Gustavo about this?" James asked as the other three glanced at him. "I'd rather not have him yell at me for turning down a potential PR opportunity."

"Sure," Kendall said with a nod.

Carlos grinned and shrugged. "Not sure he'd believe us if we told him, anyway."

James made a face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Washboard abs?" Logan ribbed, slinging an arm around Carlos' shoulders as they both smirked. "I can hardly believe it myself!"

James glared at the pair for a moment before launching forward with a yell, tackling them to the ground. There was a resounding crack as Carlos' helmet collided with the leg of the end table, and then the trio was wrestling on the floor, each one trying to gain control in the fight.

Kendall laughed, folding his arms as he leaned against the couch and watched his friends horsing around. "Good to know some things don't change."

_End_.


End file.
